Graphene nanoribbon band structures for arm-chair type. Tightbinding calculations show that armchair type can be semiconducting or metallic depending on width (chirality). Credit: SR Mehrotra and G Klimeck; Wikipedia.

The Office of Naval Research has announced that it is interested in encouraging “research and innovation in bottom-up chemical synthesis and assembly of carbon, particularly graphene, based electronic devices and circuits with atomic precision and Angstrom resolution,” and has just issued a Basic Research Challenge to stir up interest and submission of ideas.

The program, says ONR in the announcement, will support basic research on building new electronic devices and circuits “from the molecular level up, using molecular synthesis, surface catalytic chemistry and other novel techniques.”

ONR says it envisions several stages to the projects it hopes to fund. The beginning emphasis will be on “synthesis of graphene nanostructures with controllable predetermined shape and atomically sharp edges, e.g., graphene nanoribbons.” Dimensionally, it says it is interested in nanoribbons a few nanometers wide and longer than 100 nanometers. During this initial phase, ONR also wants to have methods developed to transfer the nanoribbon to non-metallic substrates.

The middle phase of the projects would focus on “synthesis of molecules that perform as graphene based circuit elements, and eventually, to rationally design and assemble them into ‘circuit molecules’.”

Eventually, ONR wants the projects’ emphasis to evolve into creating “ways to interface the molecularly derived graphene circuit elements and circuits, and impedance match them, with top-down manufactured systems at micrometer scale” and also “interface with other molecules, such as other carbon allotropes (CNT, C60 etc.), graphene derivatives (hydrogenated and/or fluorinated graphene) and other closely related noncarbon materials (hexagonal boron nitride, silicene, MoS₂, etc.).”

The Navy imagines funding somewhere between two and six different projects using a fund of $6 million spread out over five years.

Have some ideas for ONR? Although not required, interested individuals are encouraged to first submit short white papers, which will be evaluated to determine whether the technology advancement proposed appears to be of particular value. White papers should be submitted by March 31, 2012, to Chagaan Baatar (chagaan dot baatar at navy dot mil) and Paul Armistead (paul dot armistead at navy dot mil). Baatar and Armistead also serve as technical contacts for the program.

Full proposals submissions should be made through grants.gov by May 1, 2012. The ONR announcement mentions finding the grant opportunity using the funding number ONRBAA-12-001, but I could only find it by searching using the funding number 12-SN-0003. Be sure to check out the submission information detailed in the ONR’s announcement. Things will be happening fast: ONR says final funding decisions will be made by May 15 and grants will be awarded July 1.

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Jim O’Neil, a fellow graduate student a good while ago, liked to say, “Ceramic engineering is all about making big rocks into little rocks, and then making little rocks into big rocks.”

I’ve lost track of Jim, but a new Rapid Communication in the Feb. 2012 Journal of the American Ceramic Society reminded me of his take on our branch of materials science.

The short paper by a Korean team, Son and Jung, describes a novel method of making discrete ferroelectric particles by a method that amounts to making “little rocks out of big rocks” — but on a nanoscale!

The investigators were interested in fabricating PbTiO₃ nanodots for ferroelectric random access memory, which is a promising material for a nonvolatile memory applications.

Demand for smaller devices is driving the development of high density, high performance memories, and further downsizing is starting to run into physical limitations imposed by materials properties and processing.

For example, some types of RAM materials, are susceptible to a surface effect on the memory switching mechanism as they are scaled down. In ferroelectric RAM materials, there is a critical size that is determined by the maximum size of the nonferroelectric component.

Processing, too, imposes size limitations. Several methods have been used to fabricate ferroelectric nanostructures, such as self-assembly, an anodizing aluminum oxide template process, e-beam lithography and dip-pen lithography. According to the paper, PTO nanodots have been fabricated in the 22 nm to 60 nm range by these methods. The smallest PTO nanodots (22 nm) were made by self-assembly, however, the authors note that “these nanodots did not exhibit a canonical piezoelectric hysteresis loop,” even though the critical size for PTO nanodots to exhibit ferroelectricity is a few nanometers. Dip-pen lithography can make nanodots of about 40 nm with good ferroelectric properties. The anodizing aluminum oxide process is not conducive to making dots less than 60 nm.

Son and Jung’s idea was simple: Make a nanodot, whack it with a hammer, anneal to crystallize the shattered pieces and, finally, test for ferroelectricity. Their goal was to fabricate PTO nanodots less than 10 nm diameter with ferroelectric properties.

So, using dip-pen lithography, they made a PTO nanodot that was 40 nm diameter and 25 nm thick. Using an atomic force microscope tip as a hammer, the dot was shattered after “repeated collisions,” that is, they had to beat on it. The resulting nanoparticles ranged in size from several nanometers to a few tens of nanometers, and were of “diverse sizes in both diameter and thickness.”

After crystallization, tests showed that ferroelectric properties were present in a 25 nm dia. x 11 nm thick nanodot and in one that was 10 nm dia. x 8 nm thick. The 10-nm-diameter nanodot, according to the article, is “closer to the theoretical critical size” than has been achieved in other studies. PTO nanodots that were less than about 3 nm thick proved difficult to test because of high leakage currents.

The paper is “Ferroelectric PbTiO₃ Nanodots Shattered Using Atomic Force Microscopy,” Jong Yeog Son, Inhwa Jung, JACerS, Feb. 2012. DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2011.05026.x.

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A year ago, Corning published a promotional video, “A Day Made of Glass… Made possible by Corning” that provide an intriguing peek into some of the technologies the company is considering—and how it may affect our lifestyles. It proved to be a popular video, racking up well over 17 million views as of today.

As those of us old enough to remember Walt Disney’s movies about the future of communities, transportation and space, these visionary presentations are more informed guesswork than prophecy. Sometimes (most times?) these ideas just don’t work out for a number of reasons, but the exercise of compiling and publishing these visions helps bring excitement and motivation, especially to young people contemplating careers in science and engineering.

However, smart tech-oriented companies tend to be cautious about sharing their “visions” with the public (Steve Jobs was and Apple still is among those at the most secretive end of the spectrum) because they are both concerned about tipping their hand to competitors and, well, being embarrassed by being wrong about the future.

Corning, however, seems to be closer to the other end of the spectrum and has clearly decided that there is value in teasing the public with how high-tech glass products may disrupt a lot of technologies in our future. Now today, nearly on the anniversary of its first “A Day Made of Glass” video, the company has published an update,  ”A Day Made of Glass, Part 2″ that fleshes out more of Corning’s vision and also incorporates some of the market trends over the last year, such as the huge success of the iPad.

Some of the concepts illustrated in the new video include durable, multitouch screens; colossal- and large-scale edge-to-edge displays; ubiquitous electrochromic windows; entire dashboard surfaces made of soft, flexible glass displays; lightweight auto and sunroof glass; designer-friendly photovoltaic units; antimicrobial glass services for medical applications; and even advances in glass fiber optics.

Corning admits that a lot of these products aren’t right around the corner and acknowledges that there is still a lot of RD&D work that is needed to address existing problems with scalability and price.

To be clear, Corning is smart enough not to reveal all of its product and technology bets in this video. Furthermore, the Apple/Gorilla Glass story underlines how even Corning and other top-tier companies cannot always anticipate what external disruptions of the marketplace will rock their corporate world. Nevertheless, ADMOG Part 2 is an fascinating vision and I predict the number of views in the next year will easily exceed the 17 million of Part 1.

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Here is what we are hearing:

Integration of Hanse Chemie Inc. USA, into Evonik Goldschmidt Corp.

As of Jan. 1, 2012, the US Hanse Chemie business of Hanse Chemie AG and Nanoresins AG, has been merged into Evonik Goldschmidt Corp. At the same time, Hanse Chemie Inc. USA has been dissolved as a legal entity. The acquisition of the two firms by Evonik was finalized on May 12, 2011. Both companies are headquartered in Germany and produce raw materials and components for the manufacture of sealants, adhesives, molding and casting compounds, and other products. Most of the Hanse Chemie Inc. business is incorporated into the Interface & Performance business line whose activities surrounding the silicone specialties are directed at a variety of industrial markets. Activities in the paint and coatings industry, especially those concerning nanocomposites, extremely fine-particle silicas, are now part of the Coatings & Additives Business Unit of Evonik.

3M launches high density versions of its embedded capacitance material at DesignCon 2012

3M announced the initial availability of its high-capacitance Embedded Capacitance Material at DesignCon 2012, providing design engineers a new way to improve power integrity and reduce electromagnetic interference. Unlike previous 3M ECM versions, which have a maximum capacitance density of approximately 10 nF per square inch, and some existing commercial competitor offerings, which have a maximum capacitance density of approximately 6 nF per square inch, the 3M ECM high-capacitance density solutions offer a capacitance density range from 20 up to 40 nF per square inch, making it the one of the highest capacitance density, halogen-free ECM solutions on the market. This helps design engineers provide hi-fidelity signals, high-signal-to-noise ratio in radio frequencies and higher speed digital signals in a variety of high-performance applications such as small form factor computer hardware, high-performance RF boards, microphones, integrated circuit packaging and consumer electronics.

Mantec consolidates ceramic activities

Mantec, the British technology group with a portfolio of manufacturing businesses based in Stoke-on-Trent, has announced that with immediate effect the three companies previously operated as subsidiaries of the technical ceramic division have now merged into a single, business - Mantec Technical Ceramics Ltd (www.mantectechnicalceramics.com). The three companies involved are Taylor Tunnicliff, Ceramic Gas Products and Fairey Filtration Systems. They have in any case been operating under common management, from the same premises, for the past four years and so this a logical step to take. While the name of Mantec Technical Ceramics will now be the one associated with all administrative, legal, accounting and sales channels, leading brand names owned and manufactured by the group will naturally be retained.

Surmet: SEM of fracture reveals significant grain boundary weakness in lithium fluoride-doped, vacuum hot-pressed and HIPped transparent magnesia spinel

Polycrystalline ceramics with cubic spinel structure transmit well in the visible and mid IR wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. ALON and magnesia spinel are especially attractive, and are leading lightweight transparent armor candidates for future combat systems. These have enormous performance advantage over glass and justify their rapid development. Surmet achieves full density and transparency using the conventional sinter/hot isostatic Ppress process that includes green body formation and high-temperature sintering, followed by HIPping.

Molycorp to receive $390M strategic investment from Molymet; Investment slated to fuel growth and pursuit of vertical integration plans

Molycorp Inc. announced that Molibdenos y Metales S.A. (Molymet), the world’s largest processor of the strategic metals molybdenum and rhenium, has agreed to invest approximately $390 million in the company in exchange for 12.5 million shares of Molycorp common stock. The price of the Molycorp shares to be purchased were valued based on the 20-day volume weighted average share price as of the close of trading on Jan. 30, 2012 plus a 10% premium. Molycorp has agreed to appoint to its board of directors upon the closing of the proposed investment a nominee to be designated by Molymet.

Thermablok aerogel insulation strips installed in new ‘green’ US Border Patrol station in Texas

Crews working construction on the environmentally sustainable Fabens US Border Patrol Station in Clint, Texas have just completed installing 21,000 linear feet of Thermablok aerogel insulating strips on studs throughout the 51,000 square foot facility. The strips reduce thermal bridging, the prime cause of energy loss in buildings. When RVK Architects of San Antonio collaborated with Jacobs Engineering Group of Houston to design the eco-friendly structure already years in the planning, they included Thermablok in the original design. The strips went up easily since they have peel and stick adhesive already attached to the back of the product. The facility also is fitted with solar heaters, sky lights, glazed windows and energy efficient equipment for a low-carbon footprint.

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Nanshun Lu, an assistant professor at the Univ. of Texas at Austin and a researcher in bio-integrated electronics, in a relaxing moment before her talk.

The 2012 Electronic Materials and Applications meeting just ended, and I have to say, it’s a great time to be a materials scientist!

“It was an excellent meeting,” said Amit Goyal, chair of ACerS’ Electronics Division and EMA coorganizer. “One could see the excitement in the conference rooms and during the discussions. In particular, the new emphasis with a strong energy storage symposium was very well received. A combination of relevant symposia and a congregation of international experts made the conference highly successful.”

Indeed, many of the “grand challenges” society faces and has made a priority come down to materials structure and properties. For example, there are only a few sources of alternative and renewable energy: solar, wind, tidal, biomass and nuclear. But, there are myriad technical problems that stand between tapping them and making them cost effective. Talks addressed questions, such as: How can the efficiency of conversion to electricity be increased? Is electricity the only conversion output? What approaches are there to engineer around scarce materials? What problems can be solved with green manufacturing methods?

Most of the attendees were from academia and national labs, although I met at least one attendee from a venture capital firm who was trolling for promising emerging technologies in energy. It makes sense. Government has an appropriate role to invest in research according to societal priorities, and academia is where most of the basic science and proof-of-concept research takes place.

Also impressive was the youthfulness of the attendees. Many of the professors and national lab people were obviously on the friendly side of 40, and students — graduate and undergraduate — were well represented, too. Students had the opportunity to strut their stuff in a special lunchtime symposium, “Highlights of Student Research in Basic Science and Electronic Ceramics.” For most of the undergraduates, this event was their debut presentation, and I was especially impressed with how well they understood their subject as they fielded audience questions.

Next, I’m heading over to Daytona Beach for next week’s ICACC meeting. Watch for more photoblogging from Florida.

Meanwhile, enjoy these pictures from Thursday and Friday.

A noontime fire alarm postponed the student speaking symposium, but did not rattle the speakers.

ACerS president, George Wicks, chats with young members of the Society.

The delegation from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Cassandra Llano receives the award for Best Student Presentation from Amit Goyal.

Harriet Kung, associate director of science for Basic Energy Sciences at DOE, delivered Thursday's plenary talk, "Science to Energy."

Friday's plenary speaker was John Prater from the Army Research Office. His talk was "Future Opportunities in Materials Design.

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